LAPD to audit training on use of deadly force following spike in shootings by officers

A police yellow tape is seen at the scene where two people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at a Burlington store — part of a chain formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory in North Hollywood, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: Jan 11, 2022 / 05:21 PM PST

Updated: Jan 11, 2022 / 05:21 PM PST

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

After a sharp increase in shootings by police in 2021 — including those of suspects who did not have guns — the Los Angeles Police Department will audit and revise how it trains officers in the use of deadly force, officials said Tuesday.

Chief Michel Moore said at a meeting of the civilian Police Commission that the LAPD is conducting a “deep dive” into its training program to assess whether it properly outlines existing department policies, which have gotten stricter in recent years, and makes clear to officers “the reverence for human life” that is required of them.

LAPD officers opened fire 37 times in 2021, killing 18 people — driven in part by a cluster of shootings in the final weeks of the year. That compares with 27 LAPD shootings, seven of them fatal, in 2020, and 26 shootings, 12 of them fatal, in 2019.

Of the 37 people shot last year, 22 had weapons such as knives or blunt objects but did not have firearms.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.